“Although Dickinson did lead an active life outside the home in her youth, her increasing reclusiveness in her later years give the very notion of house and home a special resonance in her work. As such, the unusual piece pictured below is of particular interest, just one of Dickinson’s many “envelope poems” – the focus of a recent book, The Gorgeous Nothings by Marta Werner and Jen Bervin. In this instance, Dickinson has cut apart an envelope so all that remains are the flap and a portion of the body. She orients the paper so the point of the flap is at the top then she fills that peak with words: “The way hope builds his house…” Or, to phrase it more directly, she writes a poem about a house on a piece of paper that looks like a house.”
More in #codex:
- Zeeatlas. Frankrijk, 1538. Perkament, 39 folia, 440 x 312 mm. – 129 A 24, fol. 16r
- Naples Dioscurides
- James Joyce, Ulysses: autograph manuscript, “Circe” episode. [Fall, 1920] EL4. J89ul 922 MS
Paul Greer 